September News

Welcome back from being off track! I hope you all enjoyed your time off and your children are ready to get to work. I am excited to REALLY get learning! Here is what we will be focusing on this month:

1. Math- We will be finishing Unit 1 next week, which is on comparing fractions, finding equivalent fractions, and adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. We will then review and take a posttest.

We will also be starting Unit 2, which is on place value to the thousandths and adding and subtracting decimals.

2. Reading- We have begun our class 40 book reading challenge! Students will be keeping track of books in their reading notebook at school each week. Please encourage your child to read at home at least 30 minutes a night, five nights a week. Reading minutes will need to be totaled and signed for every Destination in the planner. The next Destination is on September 23. Students will need 15 reading stamps to go. 1 reading stamp is 30 minutes of reading.

We will also be starting reading groups in addition to reading our class book, WONDER. While reading, we will be focusing on the reading skill of comparing and contrasting. Our reading strategy focus will be inferring and predicting. Please reinforce these skills and strategies at home!

3. Writing- We will be reviewing what narrative writing and the writing process is. We will then write a narrative paragraph.

For grammar, we will be focusing on classifying types of sentences. We will also be identifying complete and incomplete sentences.

4. Social Studies- We are currently learning about explorers that came to the Americas. We will be starting a unit on the 13 colonies and colonial life. We will be having a Colonial Day experience with all of 5th grade on September 22 to help us REALLY understand colonial life!

5. Science- Sra. Stevens will be teach a unit on Matter this month. Students will learn the states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) and how they change. Students will also have to classify the changes of matter into physical changes or chemical reactions.

Please remember that students are allowed to correct any work (including TESTS) that is below an 80%. I will usually put a stamp on it that says "Correct and Return" or "Redo" if that is the case. For every mistake that is corrected, I will give back half the points back that were missed.